Brown County residents and commissioners discussed new proposals Wednesday for improving Pumpkin Ridge Road.
The Indiana Department of Transportation proposed a $7 million project to improve access to Mountain Tea State Forest and make travel safer. INDOT’s original plan proposed paving and widening the road to 22 feet with two-foot shoulders on each side, for a total width of 26 feet. The proposed speed limit would be 30 miles per hour.
The original plan faced backlash from citizens, who had concerns about how the project could disrupt the environment and bring additional traffic to a quiet area. Homeowners also believe there has been a lack of transparency on the project, with one homeowner who introduced himself as Bob at the meeting said he’s been “in the dark” about the project.
The commissioners presented two new options that INDOT provided. The first would pave and widen the road to 18 feet with two-foot shoulders on each side, for a total width of 22 feet. The proposed speed limit would be 25 miles per hour.
The second option would keep the road gravel, but widen it to 22 feet with no shoulders. The speed limit would be 25 miles per hour.
Clark said one of his priorities is the project’s impact on flood maintenance.
It’s also unclear how and where the state will exercise eminent domain. Clark said he plans to do walk-throughs with homeowners on the road to show them how each option will impact land.
“I have no intention of taking anybody's plan when it comes to this particular road,” Clark said. “You guys are all going to be involved. We'll do the walk through this week. We'll do additional meetings that we need to do so you have a clear understanding of what's acceptable, and then how much, if any, of the land, is going to be needed, and what your impact will be.”
The project was not voted on at the meeting.
The board also discussed potentially selling the Brown County Music Center. The center faces a debt of about $10.7 million.
